That simple word can mean either quick success or complete bomb when used in the Rock world. How many “supergroups” have gone on to great heights and impacting the music world? Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young come to mind, so does Cream and Blind Faith. Maybe throw Bad Company and Asia in there too? I’m sure there’s a few bands I’m missing but for every Cream, Bad Co. or Asia there’s a Contraband or a Bad English. Now you might say: “Hey, Bad English had a couple of hits!”…..I say name their second album and did it have any hits. The “supergroup” either hits it big quick or dies a miserable death. Needless to say when I heard that Sammy Hagar (ex-Van Halen, ex-Montrose), Michael Anthony (ex-Van Halen), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Joe Satriani were forming a brand new band, a “supergroup”, I was a little wary as well as curious.

The roots of Chickenfoot took hold back in 2002 when Hagar and Anthony started playing together with Journey guitarist Neal Schon and Journey drummer Deen Castronovo and called themselves Planet US. A little later on, the band added Joe Satriani in on second lead guitar. Basically this was a fun project for the members between the Van Halen reunion with Hagar and the recording of Journey’s album GENERATIONS (2005). Even though there was interest in keeping the project alive, the committments to Van Halen, Journey and Satriani’s solo career put the project on hold. As a result of nothing coming out Planet US, Schon created Soul SirkUS (a band with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals) in 2005 to release some of the material that was written for Planet US and, after touring extensively with Van Halen and Hagar’s solo band, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony revived the idea and started jamming with Satriani and Smith…..now you have Chickenfoot!

When I first heard about Chickenfoot I was excited. Even though I’m firmly in the Roth camp, I still enjoyed the Sammy Hagar version of Van Halen. With Van Halen on the backburner, I figured the Hagar/Anthony team would provide a solid base to get some good solid Melodic Hard Rock. It’s not hard to figure out that aside from Eddie Van Halen’s innovative guitar heroics the sound of Van Halen was Sammy’s voice backed by Michael’s solid harmonies. The winning combination is enhanced by a great guitar player in his own right with Satriani and probably one of the most underrated drummers in Rock with Smith. I figured I’d play this album and hear some really great Hard Rock with superb vocals and guitar. I was close!

I’ve listened to this album since it came out a lot but everytime I get halfway through it feels like something is missing. All the songs sound great, the production is top notch. The vocals are the highlight, Hagar proving that he can get it done better than ever at age 62 and Anthony chiming in with trademark harmonies. Smith pounds away and Satriani doesn’t shred as expected but he finds a smooth, Bluesy groove and plays with ease…..you can tell that the guys are all having fun playing together. The problem with the album is the songs…..they all sound the same save for a couple of tracks. The defining mark of each musician is that their careers have had great memorable songs full of life, hooks and melody. The problem with Chickenfoot is that none of the songs are memorable, there is really nothing here that gets me singing along and bringing me back for more. Songs like ‘Avenida Revolution’, ‘Soap On A Rope’ and ‘Get It Up’ are decent enough Hard Rock songs but there isn’t that hook that draws me in. Except for maybe a couple of songs, everything sounds more like a jam and in a couple of cases unfinished ideas. ‘Sexy Little Thing’ has that melody and hook that comes close to the kind of Hard Rock we’re used to from a Sammy Hagar fronted band. Same goes for ‘My Kinda Girl’ but this song is even better and could easily fit on a Van Halen album or a Sammy solo record, easily the best song on the album and should be the first single. Great harmonies and cool licks from Satriani add to the overall sound and it’s good to hear Mike Anthony singing on the background vocals…..a strong point of the Van Halen sound for decades. The third song that really stands out to me is the quiet ballad ‘Learning To Fall’ that reminds me of parts of the hit ‘Give To Live’ from Sammy’s 1987 solo album. This is probably Sammy’s best and most passionate vocal performance of the entire album, definitely a single in the making if it gets to radio.

Bottom Line:
I was looking forward to this album, to the next big supergroup, but I definitely came away disappointed. I spent a lot of time with this album because I like all the players involved and I’m a Sammy Hagar fan. If I look at my CD collection, I have all his Van Halen albums and almost all his solo records and the all have some pretty solid songs. Unfortunately, this debut album for Chickenfoot sounds like a collection of album tracks from Sammy’s solo records. You know the songs…..the ones that never make it to radio or the concert hall. I don’t want to say “filler” because that brings up a negative connotation, even though there are a few “fillers” on this album, overall it’s harder to take in. Most of the 11 songs don’t have that memorable melody or hook that keeps us tuned in, there’s not much that’s really catchy and gets you singing along. Some of the songs do grow on you after repeated listens but I lost interest after a while because there just wasn’t enough to hold my attention. This may not be the last Chickenfoot album because it’s selling decently, I just hope the guys in the band decide to follow a more commercial direction next time around.

Chickenfoot – s/t (2009) – $9.99: Chickenfoot is the latest hard Rock supergroup and includes former Van Halen duo Sammy Hagar & Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani, and Red Hot Chili Pepper drummer Chad Smith. The roots of Chickenfoot came from the 2002 Planet US project (that included Journey members Neal Schon and Deen Castronovo) and the combination of Hagar & Anthony as “The Other Ones” that played songs live during Hagar’s various concert tours. I’ve been hyped up for this project for a few months now with songs being leaked all over the Internet. When I went to the record store this past Tuesday, I noticed the promo posters up in the store and I asked if there was going to be a sale price. Sure enough…..$9.99! The cover is heat sensitive so if you press on it your body temperature reveals the album cover underneath the black…..kind of like the early ’80s clothing line Hypercolor.

(LOS ANGELES, CA…MARCH 26, 2009) – Four of rock music’s most successful and influential musicians are combining their talents to create the much anticipated rock group Chickenfoot. Guitar hero Joe Satriani, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and frontman Sammy Hagar’s new project has found the four working side-by-side for the last few months recording their self-titled debut album, Chickenfoot, which will be released in June, 2009. The band will grace the cover of an upcoming issue of Guitar World magazine on stands in April.

Long before these four rock icons came together to form Chickenfoot, they already had filled the pages of rock history with enough individual mind-blowing chapters to boggle the mind of any fan or musician alike. Satriani had his own blazing solo career as a much respected guitar virtuoso; Chad Smith is the drummer of world renowned rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers; and Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar have been working together since their days as lead bassist and singer, respectively, in Van Halen. These talented individuals were aching to work together in a band that produced rock like they never have before.

“After just a few songs, it became stunningly obvious that we shared a musical agenda and an overall agenda,” says Satriani. “When I play with Chickenfoot, I find myself wanting to give them more all the time. I don’t hold anything back. I think the rest of the guys feel the same way.”

“I really wasn’t looking to have a real band,” says Hagar. “But…the minute we started jamming it was obvious that this is something that needs to be heard.”

The news that they had pooled their inordinate talents to one collective whole quickly spread like wildfire across the internet and rock metal pages over the last year as each member slowly disclosed more and more details about the mystery project.

The self-titled debut is an 11-track hard rock album that sets a new standard for rock music in the new millennium. Produced by Andy Johns (Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones) and mixed by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Metallica), the band is not lacking energy or enthusiasm in this project.

Joe Bosso of Guitar World says, “Clearly enthusiasm is no problem in the land of Chickenfoot…the finished album is an 11-song slab of raging rock…the songs stomp and snort and do all the things that great rock songs should do.”

From the thunderous, ominous opening strains of “Avenida Revolution” (detailing the bloody drug wards in Tijuana) to the album closer, the shimmering rock ballad “Future’s in the Past,” Chickenfoot is a firebomb of a record. The band kicks and snorts their way through a passel of take-no-prisoners rock tracks like “Soap on a Rope,” “Sexy Little Thing,” “Oh Yeah” and “My Kind of Girl” – “the kinds of songs I could never do on my own,” says Satriani, “I needed a band like this to make those songs come alive.” The band also explores mature themes on such songs as “Runnin’ Out,” about a world stretched to the breaking point to “Learning to Fall,” perhaps the most poignant love song Hagar has ever written.

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